Acknowledging the Struggle in Korean Culture
I know lots of Korean parents have adopted telling their kids they're "smart" every time they do something, but I still value the classic Korean encouragements, "You toiled hard" or "I see your struggle," which acknowledges that tasks can be difficult and that you appreciate they stuck with it. Rather than innateness or seeing people and tasks as fixed points in time, you also acknowledge the child and the task are impermanent and changing, and what is commendable is the willingness to change and see that change through.
This makes much more sense when you recognize Korea was once a shamanistic, Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist culture.
Lots of people struggle with tasks, even (or especially) "smart" ones, so praising perceived innate qualities doesn't orient people to tasks or wayfinding. It centers attention internally to "Why aren't I perfect?" rather than externally to "How can I better accomplish this task?"
A constant in the LMA approach is: How you do one thing is how you do all things. So I also apply this to how I teach martial arts. Martial arts aren't something you're either good or bad at; it's something you toil at and always orient to. It's all wayfinding.
It is no wonder many political movements are called "struggles," and the universal mantra, one that's still used in Korea, is "Keep fighting," and the universal symbol of struggle is the raised clenched fist.
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